Nooshin Razani's nineteen-year-old brother Omead Razani, died while serving as a medic for the US Army in Habbaniyah, Iraq. He had completed two years of military service in Korea and was supposed to come home at the end of July, when he was to begin training as a paramedic in LA. In June, however, he received notice that his service was being extended for one to three years, and that he was being sent to Iraq. He was the first Iranian-American to die in the war.

"My family grieves for anyone who has lost a loved one in war, as this is a preventable and unnecessary cause of death. We pray for peace," said Nooshin, a pediatrics infectious diseases fellow at Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA and member of Military Families Speak Out, www.mfso.org. "We are specifically opposed to the war in Iraq because we believe there must be clear justification for sending our precious young people into harm's way, and clear endpoints for goals."

Omead was a Muslim, and Nooshin hopes to show that her brother's story serves as a bridge between Middle Easterners and Americans, Muslims and Christians. "It is painful to my family that we continue to be portrayed only as the enemy and as terrorists, when we are as invested in this country as anyone could be," Nooshin said.

Nooshin also incorporates in her talks opinions on the Middle East, and solutions to the conflict there. Having done many medical missions and travel to Iran, she also helps explain the culture of the region to interested people.

Topics covered

• Military Families Response to the Iraq War
• Culture & Life in the Middle East